Timi played in the semifinal at the Apia International for the third time: in 2014 she reached the final with Lucie Safarova, and a year later lost with Kristina Mladenovic after a great battle.

This time, the Hungarian player reached the last four with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova after two great victories. And the good run continues on Thursday, with a well deserved triumph.

In the second game of the 31-minute first set Timi and Pavlyuchenkova broke the to 40, after the opponent led 40-15. Then, the Hungarian-Russian pair preserved that advantage easily, gave no chance to Klepac and Martínez Sánchez.

Timi and her partner hold their service game twice to 30, and once to 0. And after 5:3, they lost no rally behind the serves!

The fate of the second set – and virtually of the semifinal – decided quickly. At 1:1, Timi and Pavs broke the opponent to 40, lived with the second break point. Then, they played impressive service games, without any trouble. Twice to 15, once to 30.

At 5:3, Klepac and Martínez Sánchez hold their service game from 0-40, saving four match points. This could have been a turning point, and moments later the Slovenian-Spanish pair led 30-15 as a receiver. But Timi and Pavlyuchenkova took back the control, and won the last game to 30.

The Hungarian-Russian duo’s opponent in the final will be the first seed pair of Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova.

The 30-year old, formerly World No1 Indian star is currently ranked 2nd. So far, she has won 41 WTA and 4 ITF titles in doubles. She remained unbeaten at a Grand Slam three times: in 2015 at Wimbledon and at the US Open, and in 2016 at the Australian Open with Martina Hingis. Last week, Mirza triumphed at Brisbane (Australia, 1 000 000 USD, hard court) with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The 30-year old Strycova is ranked 17th, has a career best position of 14 (31 January 2011). So far, she has won 20 WTA and 10 ITF tournament in this genre.

WTA ranking

92

643 p

4

6970 p

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